Chapter 55: The Engineering Corps' New Weapon

  The successful resolution of the Temple of Confucius incident through special means made some officials of the Qing dynasty realize that blindly kowtowing to foreigners might not necessarily solve problems, and sometimes it was more effective to take a hard stance. The Temple of Confucius incident also triggered the awakening of Chinese national consciousness, causing ordinary people to become increasingly hostile towards foreigners. Furthermore, the influence of foreign churches in China, with their followers bullying ordinary people everywhere, led to constant friction and deepening contradictions between the two sides. This indirectly contributed to the emergence of the Boxer Movement, a spontaneous anti-foreigner movement organized by the people, but that's another story.

  After the French apologized and compensated, the scholars in Beijing seemed to have won a battle, celebrating at each other's doors. Some thought Ye Zhiqi's performance was a great display of China's heroic spirit, exhilarating! Others felt it was humiliating to the literati, and that he was indeed just an unrefined man who only knew how to wield a sword and gun.

  The Times of England published a commentary entitled "A Challenge from the East" saying: The officials of the Qing government showed rudeness and discourtesy in the Gongjiao case, with no gentlemanly demeanor at all. Especially Ye Zhiqi's behavior at the banquet was simply barbaric, threatening the French government to apologize without considering the actual situation, losing the demeanor of a diplomat. What is even more ridiculous is that the French ambassador to China, Grévy, showed cowardice and weakness, yielding to the brutality of East Asians, losing the courage of the Gallic rooster, which is really damaging to the face of Western countries and will lead to very serious consequences.

  The Jiji Shimpo of Tokyo, Japan says that the Qing government thinks it can deal with Western powers on an equal footing, although it has won a temporary victory, but this may lead to unprecedented crises in East Asia. The Western powers will not let go easily, and when the time comes, the Qing government will reap what it sows.

  The Shanghai Shenbao published an editorial written by a Chinese author, calling it the most beautifully handled diplomatic dispute in the history of the Qing dynasty. The article first revealed the entire negotiation process, stating that Li Hongzhang initially abandoned Western dining customs at a French restaurant, making the French realize that there were various differences in customs between China and France, and warning Westerners not to view China through Western eyes, but rather to consider issues from China's actual national conditions. Later, the performance of Hebei Governor Ye Zhiqi at the banquet was like a stroke of genius, using the enemy's spear to attack their shield, making Grellet understand in simple terms that respect is mutual, and that Chinese people should respect Western etiquette while Westerners should also respect China's cultural heritage. In the end, this left the French government speechless, having no choice but to sincerely apologize.

  While a large number of reporters were waiting outside, hoping to interview Ye Zhiwei, he was inspecting the construction sites of the Wu Yi Military Engineering Team with Wang Shizhen.

  The engineering team includes: bridge team, earthwork team (building fortifications), thunderbolt team (landmines), repair machinery team, surveying and mapping team, telegraph team. It can be said that it is a relatively modern and high-tech unit, and because there was no such specialized professional unit before the Qing dynasty, Ye Zhi-kui attaches great importance to it, appointing Wang Shi-zhen as the commander-in-chief, hoping he could bring him a surprise.

  Wang Shizhen led Ye Zhiwei to the Thunderbolt Corps, followed by a large group of engineering corps officers and technical research personnel. Wang Shizhen walked up to a pile of landmines and introduced: "The Thunderbolt Corps is a special unit that specializes in setting up sea mines, landmines, and other large-scale explosive weapons, which are very effective in defense."

  Ye Zhi Kui picked up a landmine and found that it looked very different from the landmines of later generations, so he asked: "This thing looks like a broken bell, I don't know how powerful it is."

  Wang Shizhen nodded, knowing that Ye Zhikui was not very familiar with these weapons, and explained: "Basically, the broken bell is just a disguise on its surface. In fact, it's a landmine with a special firing device. Bury this broken bell underground, pull the fuse to the outside, and if the enemy trips over the fuse, it will explode. The power is not great, the killing range is small, but it's valuable for being simple and cheap."

  Ye Zhi pointed at an object that looked like a iron lump and asked: "Is this also a tripwire bomb? How do you use it?"

  Wang Shizhen replied seriously: "Ye Shao, this is not a landmine, but a jumping mine. Its power is very great. When using it, first install the mine in a wooden cabinet, fill the lower part of the cabinet with gunpowder, connect the detonator, and then bury the cabinet underground. Next to the cabinet, set up a trigger device connected to the firing mechanism inside the cabinet. If the enemy accidentally steps on the trigger device, it will trigger the firing mechanism, causing the gunpowder to explode, throwing the mine in the cabinet into the air, where it will explode, killing people within dozens of meters around, with extremely great power."

  Ye Zhi Kui curiously asked: "What if the enemy doesn't step on the cart? Is there another way to detonate the landmine?"

  Wang Shizhen's face was covered in cold sweat as he thought for a moment before responding, "It is absolutely impossible for the landmine to explode."

  Ye Zhi Kui clapped his hands and replied: "Beautiful!"

  Then Ye Zhiyuan saw another landmine that looked like a shell and asked Wang Shizhen, "Hiring, this landmine is too rough, isn't it? It looks just like a shell. Won't the enemy be able to tell at a glance that it's an explosive?"

  Wang Shizhen replied expressionlessly: "Ye Shao, this object that looks like a cannonball is not just disguised as one on the surface, it's actually a cannonball in essence. It's just that I accidentally placed it in the wrong location."

  The officials behind him suppressed their smiles and thought Ye Zhi Kui's question was indeed clever.

  Ye's face turned bright red! Embarrassed, he smiled and said: "Then does our Thunderbolt Team have those hand-thrown grenades?"

  Wang Shizhen thought for a moment and replied, "There is such a thing, but it's not very useful and can't be compared to guns and cannons. In some Western countries, grenade troops have already been eliminated."

  Ye Zhi thought that in the future, during the Russo-Japanese War, hand grenades had played a huge role, and with the rise of trench warfare, hand grenades would surely shine brightly, ushering in a second spring. He said: "I think this hand grenade will have a great effect, your Thunderbolt Team should vigorously develop this type of bomb, and I will form a grenadier, temporarily merged into your engineering team. In the near future, I hope you can produce actual results, making the grenadiers an elite force within the Thunderbolt Team."

  Many things in China are settled with just one word from the leader. Wang Shizhen felt that Ye Zhiwei was a bit too obsessed with hand grenades, but she still took his words seriously and remembered them carefully.

  Ye Zhui continued: "Ping, I remember that your Wu Bei Xuetang has a hydrogen balloon made by Mr. Hua Hengfang himself, which is said to be modeled after the hydrogen balloons used by the French military for reconnaissance during the Sino-French War. I hope you can work with the researchers and craftsmen of Wu Bei Xuetang and Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau to mass-produce this kind of hydrogen balloon. I plan to establish a heavenly army, so that our soldiers can attack from above on the hydrogen balloons, which will give us an absolute advantage."

  Wang Shizhen thought this was worth a try and replied: "I will complete this matter as soon as possible."

  Ye Zhikui then reviewed other branches of the engineering team, and from time to time came up with one or two innovative ideas that he shared with Wang Shizhen. Wang Shizhen felt that some of Ye Zhikui's ideas were simply outrageous, but upon further discussion, she found that they were all feasible, and couldn't help but admire Ye Zhikui greatly. Indeed, Young Master Ye's brain was different from others.